Curriculum Overview
Bright Thinker print (workbooks) are on the shelves at SPCA Base Camp and readily available for middle school & high school science and high school social studies (including Health and World Geography). This curriculum offers comprehensive and traditional reading-based & standards-aligned content in the form of units made up of a series of lessons. Reading passages include text as well as illustrations, charts, graphs, and maps. Quizzes are scattered throughout the unit, and each unit concludes with a unit test. Student activities include a range of responses: multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer, and long answer. Parents use the Teacher’s Guide to score/grade their student’s work and share progress (student work + grades) with their teacher at their regular meetings. This is an open & go, comprehensive curriculum solution that works well with an at-home or on-the-go lifestyle.
FAQs
Yes and no! Each course has a clear outline of the units and lessons in the Table of Contents. There are 10 units in every yearlong course and 5 units in a one-semester course. Thus, the Pace ≈ 1.25 units per month. Parents and students find the courses straightforward and easy to pace/monitor. Some of the courses have pre-made pacing guides available (see below).
Science lab kits are not included. Lab kits specifically aligned to the labs in the Bright Thinker science courses can be ordered separately through Home Science Tools: https://www.homesciencetools.com/science-curriculum-kits/bright-thinker/ Alternatively, families can gather/purchase lab materials on their own. Please note: student funds cannot be used to purchase ANY kits (no matter the vendor) containing materials with potential to be weapons (i.e., scalpel, lighter).
It's both! Bright Thinker also offers these science & social studies courses plus many, many more courses in a digital (online) format. This is an individual purchase through student funds and not included as part of the in-house SPCA curriculum offerings. The cost of a digital licence is $295 per student per year for unlimited courses. Your teacher must submit a PO for this option. Please note that the content (lessons, quizzes, tests) is THE SAME in the digital and print/workbook courses. To learn more, visit the Bright Thinker website.
Curriculum Support
Follow the QR codes to these student-facing videos that accompany the science lab manuals. Be sure students view these videos with the corresponding lab for a fuller learning experience.
8th Grade Science 8th Grade Social Studies
9th Grade World Geography 10th Grade World History
12th Grade Economics 12th Grade Government
If the course is not listed, there is no pre-made pacing guide.
Want to learn more about the Bright Thinker Online Curriculum?